Colonists plant trees in Palestinian lands near Jordan Valley

JORDAN VALLEY: Colonists began on Monday planting olive trees along citizens' lands in the village of Ein al-Baida in the northern Jordan Valley. Local sources said that a group of colonists began planting olive trees this morning near Road 90 and along private lands belonging to citizens from the village of Ein al-Baida. Palestinian villagers fear that this is a prelude to seizing their lands in the area, as colonists are adopting this method to seize and take over many areas of the Jordan Valley, then expand and seize all the surrounding lands of citizens. Most areas of the northern Jordan Valley are seeing escalating violations by colonists, which include attacking citizens' homes and assaulting them, in addition to chasing shepherds and preventing them from entering pastures, seizing their lands and preventing them from entering them by planting them or establishing agricultural and pastoral centers in them. Since yesterday, the occupation forces have imposed a tight military cordon on the villages of the northern Jordan Valley, while many of them saw raids, combing and searching operations, under the pretext of searching for the perpetrator of the shooting attack in the Jordan Valley that resulted in the killing of a colonist. These forces also tightened military measures at Tayasir and Hamra military checkpoints, which led to obstructing the movement of Palestinian citizens. Source: Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA